Celebrity

Pop Star Injured in Knife Attack After Woman Trespasses Backstage

Super Junior’s Kyuhyun was backstage with other actors of the ‘Ben Hur’ musical when the incident occurred.
Generic police lights and crime scene tape
A defocused police car sits behind crime scene tape with flashing lights at night.

South Korean singer Kyuhyun, a member of K-pop boyband Super Junior, is recovering from a minor injury following a knife attack in Seoul. The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. local time on Nov. 19 at the LG Arts Center, where Kyuhyun was starring in the stage musical Ben Hur, as the singer attempted to restrain a woman who entered the backstage dressing rooms with a knife.

After breaking into the shared dressing room, the woman, said to be in her 30s, threatened Kyuhyun and his castmates, according to police, per SBS Star. The woman was reportedly waving the knife around in the air. Kyuhyun, who visited the venue to “celebrate the final performance of the musical,” attempted to restrain the armed intruder and suffered “a minor abrasion on his finger,” Antenna Music said in a statement, which added, “he was immediately treated on the spot and is currently in good health, fully capable of continuing his regular activities.”

Videos by PopCulture.com

The woman was ultimately detained following the attack. Police said she was not known to any of the actors, adding in a statement, “She has no records of stalking any of them either. We’re currently looking at her mental health records and trying to discover how she obtained her knife. We plan to conduct a thorough investigation.” Further information about the incident is not available at this time. In their statement, Antenna Music added, “We express our gratitude to all the devoted fans for their genuine concern. Rest assured, we remain committed to supporting the artist.”

Kyuhyun is best known as a member of the K-pop boyband Super Junior, also known as SJ or SuJu. The group also includes Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, and Ryeowook. The group was formed by the founder of SM Entertainment, Lee Soo-man, in 2005, with Kyuhyun joining a year later. The group has released 11 Korean-language studio albums, their latest being The Road, which was released in January.

Outside of Superior Junior, Kyuhyun is a musical theatre actor, having appeared in the original and Korean versions of stage musicals including The Three Musketeers, Catch Me If You Can, Moon Embracing the Sun, Singin’ in the Rain, The Days, Robin Hood, Werther, Mozart!, The Man Who Laughs, Phantom, and Frankenstein. His latest credit, Ben Hur, premiered in September, with the Nov. 19 performance having been the final show of its run in Seoul.